Washington Crossing the Delaware Quarter Dollar: A Return to Unifying and Inspirational Coin Design

The United States Mint issued a new reverse for the Washington Quarter Dollar in late 2021, the Washington Crossing the Delaware Quarter. It is the regular issue quarter after the completion of the America the Beautiful Series in which every State or territory’s national parks were featured on the reverse, and before the 2022 American Women Series that I posted about last year. This striking and inspiring design appropriately honors a significant historical event, and the men who took part in it: the night crossing of the icy Delaware River from Pennsylvania to New Jersey on Christmas 1776 to surprise the Hessian mercenaries of the British at Trenton, a victory that turned the tide of the war and provided a much-needed morale boost to the struggling American forces and the American people during the Revolutionary War. After the American Women Series, a similar patriotic series will follow for the 250th anniversary of Independence, together with a new obverse image of Washington. Such designs are more unitive than divisive than ones honoring individuals. As I have repeatedly noted, the Founders did not want the images of individuals on coins for this reason and instead put images of the personification of “Liberty,” based on the homologous Roman goddess. Designs that educate, inspire and unite are needed more than usual nowadays. I hope this type of design will be more effective than politically controversial ones.